'Overnighter' Hut in the local mountains?

After reading the latest Shuswap Trail Alliance Goal & Mission Statement:

http://www.shuswaptrailalliance.com

...I've been having thoughts of creating an overnighter' hut somewhere along the Highland Trail:

http://www.cabinforestry.com/rec-trails

This might place it atop, or nearly so, of Little White Mt., as a stunning vista would be a heck of a great thing to hike, snow-shoe, back-country ski / skin or hike-a-bike into and spend the evening watching the vistas and sunset. I realize that the summit and some of the surrounding shoulders of Little White are components of BC Parks, but they may be lobbied into seeing the logic of the concept. I know that the Tetrahedron Outdoor Club runs four cabins within park boundaries under a stewardship agreement with BC Parks and the Crown - www.tetoutdoor.weebly.com I'm guessing that this is occurring a lot more often across BC than I am currently aware of as well.

If not, someone reading this may have other suggestions for Crown heights of land with a view - but specifically - near or on the Highland Trail would be very nice, as would a bottom-gated service road..

Sounds like a pipe-dream? Princeton's China Ridge Trail Society did it. The Alpine Club of Canada www.alpineclubofcanada.ca does it, so did the Shuswap Trail Alliance and BC Parks has dozens of them scattered throughout BC. In fact, I suspect that numerous trail societies / trail alliances across North America have done the exact same thing. All it takes is vision, the will to do something great, along with some manpower / woman-power! Arranged in the manner of other trail societies, this could become an ongoing revenue generator for a club or association to boot through pre-booked / fairly priced or 'in-kind' overnight stays

This spring a group of us visited the new China Ridge overnight hut atop Connally Mt. and came away mightily impressed; see images below. Their cabin appears to be a kit of sort that was perhaps dropped onsite and assembled. Their website lays out the who, what, where, when and why of their business model.

http://www.chinaridgetrails.com/CR/Sponsors.html

There isn't any difference between what these people were capable of doing and us. Its really all in who you know, how much love of the front and back-country you want to share with others and creating a plan / putting it into action.

I'm guessing that everyone reading this knows a wide variety of people with a serious case of outdoor love, along with an incredible variety of resources.

I'd suggest that building a similar or replica kit on the ground, perhaps on the High School or University grounds under the exercise of a carpentry apprenticeship project - then doing as log home builders do; mark and disassemble it, truck it in and reassemble it, would avoid the pitfalls of "this doesn't fit" or "we need another tool" when it comes time to reassemble the unit.

Gated roads to the summit of Little White already exist. As a side-note, it would be good to ensure that the service road up is gated or lobby to have it gated... That would eliminate a good percentage of the uber-redneck community from driving to the cabin-site for partying / vandalism... (The China Ridge cabin does not [appear] to have been vandalized to date).

I've contacted the local hiking and equestrian clubs with the concept. If they like it, I'll forward the proposal to John Hawkins (Provincial Trails Officer for BC Recreation Sites and Trails - with whom the bike club has an amazing relationship via Trails BC and various boards that we've sat on). I'll also forward comments to Mark Weston from BC Parks - with whom the club also has an excellent relationship.

I'll asked the Princeton club for cabin specs' and drawings. I met the builders this spring and they seemed like really great guys. If they cooperate, great. If not, I'll ask the Whistler club, the Shuswap club or BC Parks... It would be nice to implement a proven design rather than attempting to reinvent the proverbial wheel. Perhaps a 'factory' kit cabin from an Okanagan supplier.

I'm thinking no water, a small well-secured stove, LED lights, an outhouse within 100m... Basic back-country fare.

It would also be interesting to learn how NGO and non-profit clubs deal with bookings / overlaps.

I invite anyone and everyone to pitch ideas 'out there' on this concept. Tell / ask / blurt this out / to everyone you know :-)

Finally, for those of you that aren't yet aware; I'll be stepping away from the Penticton & Area Cycling Association at the end of this year in order to lay the groundwork for a trail-specific group; the South Okanagan Trail Alliance. This new group will work cooperatively with all non-motorized recreationalists in the valley and be insured under the Federation of Mountain Clubs of BC (FMCBC).

If anyone reading this would like to participate in this new entity in any way, please feel free to contact me at your convenience at 250.486.2443 or andrewdrouin "at" gmail "dot com


Kudos to the high-paid models in this photo-shoot









Andrew


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Will there be wifi?

Based on the image above, I can see that this is an issue of particular importance to you :-)

Atop any height of land in this valley you'd have 4G / LTE etc.

A.